US Senators cite security concerns over Iran’s crypto mining sector

Iran’s
cryptocurrency
mining
sector
is
under
fire as United
States
Senators
Elizabeth
Warren
and
Angus
King believes
its
a
threat
to national
security.

According
to
a letter to
National
Security
Advisor
Jake
Sullivan,
Defense
Secretary
Lloyd
Austin
and
Treasury
Secretary
Janet
Yellen,
sent
on
May
1,
the
senators
have
urged
the
Biden
administration
to
detail
the
possible
ties
between
the
Iranian
government
and
local
crypto
miners.

Senators
Warren
and
King
believe
that
digital
assets being
mined in
Iran
are
being
used
to bypass
U.S.
sanctions and
fund
terrorist
organizations
like
“Hezbollah.”
Further,
they
allege
that
these
funds were
also
used to
fuel
the
nation’s
attack
on
Israel
in
April.

Iran
has
been
sanctioned
by U.S.
along
with other
international
bodies
since
1979. Earlier
this
year,
the Department
of
the
Treasury’s
Office
of
Foreign
Assets
Control
(OFAC) imposed
sanctions on several
entities
involved
in the
illegal
export
of technology
from
multiple
U.S.
companies
to
Iran.

“Unless
we
take
action,
Iran
will
continue
to
use
crypto
to
fund
attacks
against
Israel,”
the
letter
stated.

In
the
letter,
the
duo
cited
a
report
that
claimed
the
Iranian
government
preferred
“newly
minted”
Bitcoin
since
it
is
“less
traceable.” It
was
also
reported that
Bitcoin
miners
in
the
nation
generated
$1
billion
in
revenue
in
2021.

As
such,
the
Senators
have
asked
U.S.
officials
to
provide
data
on
revenue
generated
by
Iranian
crypto
miners, its potential
use
in
money
laundering,
and
how
they
plan on
addressing these
“threats
to
U.S.
national
security.”

Interestingly,
the
Iranian
government
has cracked
down on
the
cryptocurrency
mining
sector on
multiple
occasions since mining
was legalized in
the
nation
in
2019. 

In
2021,
the
nation
confiscated
approximately
150,000
pieces
of
crypto-mining
equipment
to
address concerns of
electricity
depletion.
The
equipment,
however,
was released in
January
of
last
year.